Kurt Viles’ notoriety isn’t exactly what it used to be 10 years ago when he released Wakin On A Pretty Daze, almost the pinnacle of slacker psychedelic rock of the 2010s. Since then he’s released several projects, including a duo ship album with Courtney Barnett, Lotta Sea Lice, which is a fine album but doesn’t have too much staying power.
In fact, many of his albums since 2015’s b’lieve I’m going down… don’t have much-staying power. The riffs are very KV and though catchy, the man doesn’t know how to end a song after 5 minutes. His lyrics are also something left to be desired always riffing on the classic words “man, down and tiiiimme,” like a stoned-out Tom Petty. So I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by Kurt during his 75 % sold-out FIJM performance, and though I wasn’t, he did surprise me. There were points in the set where he straight-up screamed the lyrics bringing a more punk rock/post-hardcore vibe to songs like “Pretty Pimpin,” and some of the newer ones from the album Back To Moon Beach and (watch my moves).
It completely took me off guard, but I wanted more. Kurt is a wizard on the guitar, there’s no question of that (which is why some of his songs hit the 9-minute mark and he has like 12 guitars), but his vocals have always kind of taken a back seat for me. But when he screamed, I listened. Suffice today, I think I’m more of a Kurt Vile live fan than his recent albums.
I have to wonder, does Kurt Vile know exactly what he’s doing? Is he getting bored using the same kind of songwriting style for almost 20 years with the same old “recycled riffs” that “ain’t going anywhere soon?” His words, not mine. Does he need to evolve or could he just keep doing him for another 20 years? As long as he’s got a band that is down with him soloing for six minutes there’s no stopping him.
